The Abiding— At the West End Gallery
The beginning of hardship is like the first taste of bitter food—it seems for a moment unbearable; yet, if there is nothing else to satisfy our hunger, we take another bite and find it possible to go on.
― Adam Bede
First rule of abiding: Put down your head and do whatever you have to do to get through to the other side.
Your anger, your frustration, your fatigue, your nostalgia for the way things were, your beliefs about the why’s and how’s that brought you to this point, your desire for mercy, or your sense of victimhood and tantrums– they are meaningless.
They only serve to prevent you from getting through to the other side.
I am not sure there is a second rule of abiding.
However, perhaps we can draw one from the experiences of those who have endured in the past, people who somehow endured holocausts, enslavement, natural disasters and a host of other horrors to make it through to the other side.
While these survivors followed the First Rule of Abiding, they also often created a goal for the future, some purpose or task on which they focused as they trudged forward through whatever served as an obstacle in that moment.
Something that acts as a rope to use to pull yourself forward to the other side.
Oh, I am frustrated and angry. I want things to be the way they were– well, kind of. I am certainly fatigued and on edge.
But I will abide. I have things I want to do, things I need to do and goals to fulfill. So, I will follow the First Rule of Abiding. My head is down and I will do what it takes to get through to the other side.
Hope to see you there.
Redtree Times 